Abby Aiyeleye, co-founder of Clavis Studio, has received the Most Promising Startup Entrepreneur of the Year Award as part of the Start Alberta Tech Awards.
Aiyeleye was recognized for her coachability, community involvement, and ability to build a technology-focused company, Start Alberta said in announcing the award.
Clavis Studio, which launched in 2019, is an interactive 3D platform for personal and professional home design using shoppable furniture and decor.
"The goal of our studio is for everyone to have a beautiful, well-decorated, functional space," Aiyeleye told Start Alberta. "The studio grew from personal experience, where we struggled and spent a lot of money and time trying to make things look great for us. We started to talk to people and realized this is a common thing in the industry. We wanted to change the narrative from interior design being something that's so far out of reach to something that's easy to get and put together."
When Aiyeleye decided to merge her passion for home design with technology, she was motivated by the potential to simplify processes and help people rethink how they do things, she explained to Taproot.
"We're redefining the way people approach design ... building innovative solutions and integrating technology platforms and applications in a way that has not been done before. We will be creating jobs for designers and home design enthusiasts whilst expanding their market reach and making interior design more accessible," she said.
In a few weeks, Aiyeleye is planning to open up the Clavis platform to other professionals and aspiring designers so they can create and collaborate with their clients through the web app. It will be in test mode until it is fully deployed in 2022.
The Most Promising Startup Entrepreneur of the Year, won by Abby Aiyeleye, is sponsored by Startup Edmonton and Startup Calgary. (Supplied)
The other Edmonton award winners so far include Zack Storms, who took home the Rod Charko Service Award, and Jobber, which won Tech Deal of the Year for raising $76 million in its most recent Series C fundraising round.
Storms, co-founder of Startup TNT, was honoured for his contributions to the venture capital and technology industries, as well as the larger tech innovation ecosystem in Alberta.
"I love Alberta, I've always loved technology, and I've always wanted to make an impact on society," Storms told Start Alberta. "Working with entrepreneurs means working with some of the most exciting people that don't accept our reality for what it is right now. They always see what's better. There's nothing more gratifying and satisfying than watching these great people achieve their dreams."
Storms was also recently named on Edify's Top 40 Under 40 list for 2021.
Start Alberta is rolling out announcements of its Tech Awards winners each day from Nov. 8 through 22.